Integrating Hypermedia in Professional Development Opportunities for Elementary Teachers of Science: A Literature Review

Abstract

Recent calls for improvements in the teaching of science have supported the implementation of numerous reform strategies in the elementary classroom. Reviews of the different reform strategies have indicated varying levels of effectiveness. One method shown to be effective in producing changes in teachers, the teaching process, and student learning is the professional development workshop. With the success of professional development workshops in other subject areas, researchers have suggested this could be an effective strategy in addressing concerns related to the teaching of elementary science. However, for a variety of reasons, past elementary science professional development workshops have not met with the same levels of success as other content areas. The integration of hypermedia into professional development settings is one method of improving the effectiveness of elementary science professional development workshops. This review of the published literature examines the role hypermedia can play in improving elementary science professional development workshops.